Covering Home: Sports, Romance, Japan, and a Giveaway!

On assignment in Japan, television personality turned sportscaster Britt Bowen is determined to land an interview with the most reclusive pitcher in baseball and prove she can succeed in a demanding profession. A relationship with a self-absorbed professional athlete is the last thing Britt needs.

Shunning all media attention, former All-Star pitcher Caleb Scott is focused on rebuilding his career in Japan, far from his past and the horrible tragedy that nearly ruined him. Then he meets Britt, who is everything he vowed to avoid.

But it doesn't take long before Caleb is battling his attraction toward Britt. While she works to uncover his secrets, she can't deny she's drawn to his wounded soul. At a crossroads, Caleb must decide if he can break free from his past mistakes and give love another chance. And Britt must choose between advancing her career - or falling in love.

A novel about a female sportscaster and a
professional baseball player set in … Japan? How did you come up with that? How
much research went into the writing of this novel?

These are the most frequent questions I’ve
answered from readers. Often a story idea sort of percolates in my head and I
play with it for a while and see if I can build a whole novel from that one
idea. But Covering Home came to be in
a much different fashion.

Initially, I saw a call for submissions
from a publisher for a story set in Tokyo, Japan that featured a bat, a bell,
and an angel. For the non-writers out there, a call for submissions is
something writers pay attention to because it’s the publisher’s way of telling
writers what they are looking for. This particular publisher wanted a novella,
which is about 25,000 words or so. As soon as I dropped Britt Bowen and Caleb
Scott in the lobby of that hotel, I knew I had something special going on. Once
the characters came to life on the page, I couldn’t stop at a novella. It was
sooo much fun to write. It wasn’t always easy, though, and I stopped and
started many times. But I kept going and eventually had almost 90,000 words in
the first draft. Needless to say, some serious editing and re-writing went on.
Many authors say the re-writing phase is where the magic happens, but I still
find it to be a daunting task. I did work that bat, bell and angel in there,
too. You’ll have to see if you can find all three.

A trip to Japan several years ago helped me
describe the scenes in Tokyo, including the train rides, the experience of
attending a baseball game and some of the cultural observations. But the scenes
involving eating at the restaurants, the differences between baseball in Japan
versus the US, as well as the inside of the hotel (and the amusement park
outside) required quite a bit of research.

In a former career, prior to marriage and
children, I worked as an athletic trainer at a university and watched A LOT of
baseball games. The banter between the athletes, an athlete’s response to
injury, the experience of being in a dugout, were all things I’d witnessed at
the college level. Even though I’m not a sportscaster, I was able to piece
together enough details to create believable scenes. Writing the parts about
Caleb pitching the ball required research, as well as the rules of the game
that impact wins and losses. That was perhaps the most grueling part because I
wanted to get it right.

I’m proud of this fun, sweet romance. Not
only does it have a subtle message of hope and redemption, it also gives
readers an opportunity to see a little slice of life in a land you might not
have visited yet. I hope you all enjoy reading Covering Home.

Heidi McCahan is a Pacific Northwest girl at heart. She spent her formative years in Alaska, where her unique upbringing, coupled with Alaska's breathtaking scenery, fueled her active imagination and loosely inspired her debut novel, Unraveled.

Heidi graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Sports Medicine from Whitworth University and a Master's Degree in Athletic Training from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. After a brief career as a Certified Athletic Trainer, Heidi married her husband, Steve. They currently live in North Carolina with their three boys.

When Heidi isn't stepping on Legos, chauffeuring the boys around suburbia or watching one of their many sporting events, she loves to read and write heartwarming romance.